9th February 2011

Why?

“And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he’s listening. And if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.”1 John 5:14-15 (MSG)

History is repeating itself in our family. Our three year old grandson, Andrew, delights in constantly asking questions. He is doing exactly what his Dad did. We never had a silent journey or episode in our home, as a discussion frequently followed the word. “Why?” Recently our grandson posed the question, “Why do you say water runs when it has no legs?” He had a twinkle in his eye and his Mum knew she was being tested. I have every confidence in the competence of my daughter-in-law to adequately answer the question, but when I heard about the question it stirred my thoughts.

If my daughter-in-law had taken the time to explain the complexities of the English grammatical structure, it would have without doubt confused and frightened our three year old. The time for that explanation is in the future. Andrew was given an answer suitable to his level of comprehension.

We as human beings are full of questions—it is how we learn. There are occasions when we demand answers from God such as, “Why did you let this happen?”, “Where were you?”, “Why me?”; and we insist on a response. Our tone and attitude may be remiss, but God understands our hearts better than anyone else. Mathew 7:7 assures us that God welcomes questions from you. He welcomes dialogue from you—He calls it prayer. Jesus instructs us in Mathew 7:7-8 simply to ask. The most comforting thought is that He knows our needs before we ask as we read in Mathew 6:8 (NIV UK). So why ask? We ask because God delights in our communion with Him.

There are questions that remain unanswered. The question for God then becomes—When? We have an assurance, a guarantee of an answer when God feels it is best for us as individuals. Each of us is unique and our Father, who created us, knows our needs better than anyone else. His answers will be given to us when it is right for us to have them. He has not forgotten them—He has kept them for us and will grant the answers when the timing is perfect for us. Praise God for his love toward us and the certainty of His promises.

Prayer
Great God we thank you for your certainty—the assurance we have in your promises. Help us in our unbelief when questions press. We ask for the help of the Saviour to wait patiently for the answers.
Amen